Chester A. Franklin and Harry S. Truman: An African-American Conservative and the "Conversion" of the Future President

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Title

Chester A. Franklin and Harry S. Truman: An African-American Conservative and the "Conversion" of the Future President

Abstract

Extensive article about the influence of Chester Franklin (1880-1955), "the African-American publisher of 'The Call,' a black Kansas City newspaper," starting in 1919, on future president Harry Truman (1884-1972), along with other "contradictory interpretations of Truman's attitudes toward African Americans." Photos and description of Franklin, born in 1880 in Texas, growing up "in all-black Nicodemus, Kansas," and arriving in Kansas City in 1913, a conservative anti-Democrat.

Notes

Page 77: "By playing a role in Truman's 'conversion' and supporting the future president in the critical 1940 campaign, Franklin inadvertently helped the Democrats take the lead in civil rights, consequently insuring the decline of his own philosophy."